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Sailing Is Like A Box Of Chocolates
Wednesday, 09 April 2008
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Two nights before leaving Hawaii, we of Uniquely Singapore got together for one last crew dinner at BubbaGump’s, a restaurant based on the theme of the movie, “Forrest Gump.” |
Paraphrasing one of the film’s best known quotes suits sailing quite nicely:
“Sailing is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get.”
For the last two nights, I’ve spent 30 minutes of my midnight to 4:00 a.m. watch taking my turn on the helm, using the remaining three and a half hours to do nothing else but leisurely gaze at the spectacular stars we regularly have out at sea. At 4:00 a.m., dry and pleasantly sleepy, I’d crawl into my bunk for a few hours sleep.
Yesterday morning, however, as I finished my breakfast before going on watch at 8:00 a.m., I heard Mark say to Graham, “We need to hank on the Yankee 3.” In other words, start the process of replacing the Yankee 2 with the Yankee 3.
For those of you not familiar with the Dubois 68’s sail plan or sailing in general, I’ll further translate. What Mark really meant was, “I want everyone on deck to get totally soaked and exhausted.”
The Yankee 3 is our smallest of three headsails. When it’s needed, it’s because there’s too much wind for Yankee 2, the middle sized headsail. To drop the Yankee 2, we’ll need to pull it down and into the boat. Since it’s being overpowered by too much wind, however, it’s trying very hard to billow up and away from the boat.
Because of the high winds and the extra heeling of the boat caused by the current excess of sail, conditions at the bow will be angled, slippery, and under a constant barrage of spray. The spray could be either like a thunderstorm, with waves slapping the bow and arcing up and then down on you. It can also be like a collection of fire hoses aimed at your ankles, with walls of water knocking you off your feet and sending you skidding down the deck until your safety harness jerks you to a stop. With so much water flying about on the bow, it’s not uncommon for one or two lifejackets to auto-inflate. Our current record for a headsail change is three auto-inflates. We hope to achieve a 4-popper before we get to Liverpool.
While I took my last sip of coffee yesterday morning, Graham acknowledged Mark’s words, took one more bite of toast, and turned to climb the companion way up to the cockpit. I followed Graham but grabbed my camera first. In the few moments when my hands weren’t either full of sail or clinging to some part of the boat, I was able to get a few shots of what it’s like to drop a Yankee 2, one showing the wet, the other showing the work.
"This is open ocean yacht racing: full of moments either like a candlelit dinner for two or a kayak ride down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon."
(The second photo can be viewed under Photos of the multimedia section of the website)
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